Monday, September 3, 2007

Toyota and Greenhouse Gasses

You'll of course remember that CO2 is the gas that traps heat in the atmosphere and thus contributes to global warming.
Additionally, the Environmental Defense report found that while the average CO2 emissions rate from new vehicles fell 3 percent from 2004 to 2005, it has increased a net 1.5 percent since 1990.
The reason for this, according to the Environmental Defense report, is a steady increase in driving, a decline, at least in some vehicle segments, in vehicle fuel economy and what the report calls a lack of progress in developing truly renewable, low-carbon fuels.
There is at least one bright spot here, though. It is that according to the analysis done by Environmental Defense, average per-vehicle CO2 emissions from Toyota vehicles have fallen. Yes, Toyota is the sixth car company mentioned in the report.
Environmental Defense notes on its web site that, "Toyota achieved significant CO2 reductions through incremental improvements on conventional technology in the Toyota Corolla, whose strong sales provided a bigger impact on CO2 cuts through 2005 than the more fuel-efficient Toyota Prius hybrid."
And it further notes that, "These dips go a long way in demonstrating that while advanced technologies like hybrids can be potent curbers of CO2 emissions, the chief global warming pollutant, an array of solutions is available to auto manufacturers to reduce the impact of cars on global warming."
The implication here is not just that efficient, well-engineered cars like Corolla and Prius are capable of making a positive contribution to the reduction of greenhouse gasses. It is also that the buyers of these cars are apparently willing to recognize the impact they can have when they choose our vehicles.
There's another implication as well. It's that even though Toyota is a full-line manufacturer, with vehicles that range from the Prius to the Tundra pickup, thanks to the hard work of our engineers, our fleet of vehicles achieves very low emissions. Indeed, each new generation we introduce almost always sees a reduction in emissions, an increase in fuel economy and improvements in comfort and performance.
We just thought that you might like to know that.
Contributed by Irv Miller, Group Vice President, Corporate Communications


Source: http://blogs.toyota.com/2007/08/toyota-and-gree.html

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